Against Predestination

I was wondering whether or not Martin Luther taught the doctrine of Predestination, so I did some research. The answer, it turns out, is "yes" and "no".

Some in Luther's day latched onto his view that God was sovereign to assume that all things were predestined. Indeed, Luther affirmed that "everything is absolute and unavoidable." That is, it is a given that if God works all things after the counsel of His will, that if He is sovereign and omniscient, then what will happen will certainly happen and it can't be changed. Thus, Luther affirmed predestination.

Luther also countered the concept. He didn't object on principle, but on practice. Those in his day would argue, "If I am predestined, I shall be saved, whether I do good or evil. If I am not predestined, I shall be condemned regardless of my works." This isn't the principle of predestination; this is the application (or misapplication) of the principle. Luther held that God was sovereign and all things were set, but we didn't know what they were. That meant that we couldn't operate as if we did. Thus, Luther denied predestination.

The problem really is in the application. We can know in theory that "everything is absolute and unavoidable", but we can't live that way. You see, God is a God of means. He has methods by which He operates. Easy examples would be that He provides for families by having us work for a living or He makes converts by the preaching of the Word. He could provide for His own by simply giving us what we need, but He doesn't use those means. He could convert people simply by speaking it, but He doesn't use those means. Thus, while all things are predetermined, since we don't know what those things actually are, we are obligated to operate through God's means.

A similar objection has often been lodged against predestination in terms of evangelism. If God chooses whom He will save, why bother spreading the Gospel? I can offer two very quick reasons. First, God commanded it. That settles it, doesn't it? That should be sufficient reason. Go and make disciples not because you understand, agree, or are the power source for such an enterprise. Go because you're told to go. That's all we really need. But the second reason is precious to me. God has ordained, by use of such means, that His people should take part in His work. We do this by obeying "so that they may see your good works and give glory to your Father who is in heaven." We do this by preaching the Word because "How then will they call on Him in whom they have not believed? And how are they to believe in Him of whom they have never heard? And how are they to hear without someone preaching?" We do this by praying "that the Father may be glorified in the Son."

Intellectually, if God is sovereign and omniscient, then we can be sure that everything that occurs is predetermined. We can be sure intellectually. The danger comes when we misappropriate that certainty to prevent us from doing what God commands. We are commanded to be holy. We are commanded to pray. We are commanded to share the Gospel. If we try to use the hidden will of God as an excuse to defy God, it will surely end badly for us.